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In amongst all of the oranges in the grocery store these days I noticed some new varieties that I had not come across before and I have been trying them out. One of the more interesting ones was the seville orange which was not what I was expecting when I cracked one open to eat along with breakfast; boy was it ever bitter! A quick search on the internet showed that the seville orange is indeed supposed to be bitter and that in fact it is prized for it and that bitterness makes it the perfect candidate for making marmalade. When I read that I knew what I would be doing with the rest of my bag of seville oranges; making marmalade.

After browsing a couple dozen recipes for marmalade I noticed that none of them called for pectin and since I had never made a jam or preserve without pectin, I was looking forward to making the marmalade. Citrus fruit has a lot of pectin naturally and it concentrates in the seeds. With this in mind, one of the critical aspects of marmalade recipes is to catch all of the seeds, pulp and extra bits and tie them up in a cheese cloth bag. This bag of seeds is then simmered with the peels so that the pectin is released into the marmalade to thicken it naturally. Another thing that I liked about the recipes for marmalade it that they are all pretty simple ingredient wise usually only containing the oranges, sugar and water with a lemon thrown in for good measure.

Other than a bit of juicing, scraping, slicing and simmering, the marmalade was pretty easy to make and once you get it to the simmering phase you can let it go for the most part, just stirring it every once in a while.

In the end I was quite pleased with the final results including the way that the marmalade thickened up despite the lack of extra pectin. The marmalade itself has a really nice sweetness with undertones of bitterness that balance things out and the the orange peel is perfectly tender. I am looking forward to trying the marmalade out on something!

Marmalade

Directions:1. Cut the oranges and lemon in half cross wise.2. Squeeze the juice and pits out through a mesh sieve collecting the juice in a large sauce pan.3. Scrape all of the membranes and remaining pulp from the inside of the oranges. (For me it all came out easily leaving behind just the pith.)4. Collect the pit, membranes and any pulp that came out and place it in a double layer of 8 inch square cheese cloth and tie it off.5. Slice the orange and lemon peels into small thin pieces about 1/8 inch wide and no longer than an inch.6. Bring the juice, water, peels and cheesecloth to a simmer over medium heat and cook, covered, until the peel gets tender, about 2 hours. Stir every 15 minutes, squeezing the juices from the cheesecloth when you do.7. Remove the cheesecloth and squeeze out any liquid into the pot.8. At this point you should have about 4 cups of liquid. Add more water if you have less and simmer to reduce if you have more.9. Bring the liquid and sugar to a roiling boil until it thickens, about 10-15 minutes. To test, place a small spoonful on a plate that was in the freezer and run your finger through. If the path where your finger went through stays then it has set.10. Pour into your jars leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top, seal, let cool and refrigerate.

Note: Since I do not have much room left in my pantry for more jars of preserves, I made a small batch and I plan on keeping them in my fridge over the next few months while I finish them. If you want to preserve some for a longer period of time or outside of a fridge you will have to use proper canning procedures. Sterilize the jars before filling them by boiling them in water for 10 minutes. After the jars are filled and sealed, cover them water and boil for 10 minutes.

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comments:

Your marmalade looks great. I just finished making a small batch myself last month. Have you ever tried Using other citrus fruits? I have also made lemon, lime, and grapefruit marmalades and love the taste of each of them.

I've never made jam before but have always wanted to. A quick question, what did you mean by the last line: "After the jars are filled and seal cover them in boiling water for another 10 minutes."? Does that just simply mean, after the jars are filled you put the lids on and then put the whole thing back in the boiling water for 10 more minutes? That won't affect the contents with the heat?

We love marmalade. We recently stuffed it into cupcakes and it was delicious. :) The next time you have bitter oranges, try this carmelized orange pizza. http://www.twin-tables.com/2011/02/candied-orange-and-arugula-flatbread.html No prep work, just coat in brown sugar and bake on the pizza. It is so good! Thanks for your marmalade recipe!

Kevin, that looks fantastic. I think I'll give it a try. I am also loving all the currently available citrus. If you want somewhere to spread that orangey goodness, check out the English Muffin bread recipe on the King Arthur Flour website. I featured it on my blog a few weeks ago.http://spiralstyle.blogspot.com/2011/01/productive-weekend.html

I'm the founder/moderator for Punk Domestics (www.punkdomestics.com), a community site for those of use obsessed with, er, interested in DIY food. It's sort of like Tastespotting, but specific to the niche. I'd love for you to submit this to the site. Good stuff!

This is great! I lived in Seville for a semester in college and let me tell you, in the early spring when the orange blossoms came out on the trees, the whole city smelled like citrus. It's one of the most beautiful aromas in the world, and the oranges make such a delicious marmalade.

I used your research and recipe to make a batch of kumquat marmalade which turned out pretty delicious. I think I might have to brave regular marmalade next since yours looks so wonderful! Thanks for the help!

I just saved this recipe for the winter when I'll have a great supply of citrus. How in the world did you get such a beautiful color?! I've made marmalade using a few different types of citrus and they're never this gorgeous!!

First of all, props on making your own english muffins! I am such a sucker for good crispy english muffins. These photographs are gorgeous, great lighting and it looks delish. I made a grapefruit marmalade that came out really yummy too!

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I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.